OBSERVER Staff Report

Dunkirk School District Athletic Director Andrew Burnside has resigned.

The Dunkirk Board of Education has accepted his resignation, which is effective Tuesday.

Burnside took over the position from Al Gens in the summer of 2023. He oversaw a crackdown on athletes’ class skipping and bad grades that autumn. However, his December 2023 was marred by an athlete’s derogatory social media post, which led to a cancellation of a basketball game against Silver Creek.

Burnside later led a revamp of how Dunkirk honors its former athletes, highlighted by a new display recently dedicated at the high school gym entrance.

The Board of Education accepted one more resignation at its latest meeting — that of Amanda Gornik, secondary school health teacher. Her resignation was effective June 30.